Posted on 06/29/2003 1:57:37 PM PDT by TankerKC
By ROBYN MOORMEISTER
Sentinel staff writer
This high school teacher doesn’t think the U.S. government is playing with a full deck.
So she’s printed up her own decks in an effort to prove it.
Available locally, the ‘‘Operation: Hidden Agenda" playing cards are Kathy Eder’s answer to the U.S. military’s distribution of its most wanted list card collection — the Bush administration’s unique and portable list of 55 wanted former Iraqi government officials.
Eder’s cards are a little different than George W.’s.
There are pictures of U.S. government officials, like the four of spades featuring Central Command Commander in Chief Tommy Franks, and quotes such as the one under his picture: "We don’t do body counts."
A grinning President George W. Bush graces the Ace of Spades card, accompanied by the caption "Dictator of the World."
Then there’s Eder’s favorite: the Ace of Clubs, or "Donald goes to Baghdad."
It’s a picture of U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and a synopsis of his 1983 trip to Baghdad as a special envoy to meet with Saddam Hussein and promote the contraction of a U.S.-sponsored pipeline:
"(The meeting) occurred the same day that the United States team confirmed that Saddam gassed Iranian troops," reads the card.
The back of every card shows Rumsfeld shaking Saddam’s hand during that visit.
Eder, who teaches the class ‘‘Morality and Social Justice’’ at Bellarmine, an all-boys Catholic high school in San Jose, says the idea for the cards came to her when her students insisted the war in Iraq was justified, but they couldn’t offer facts or reasons to back up their statements.
"This war was totally wrong and totally about greed," she said. "We were told lies the whole time."
The cards are a lesson in truth, she said.
"It became clear to me that I needed to do what I have always encouraged my students to do," Eder said, "use my life to try and make a difference in the lives of others."
She gathered information for her cards from The New York Times, the BBC, Mother Jones magazine, iraqbodycount.net, the San Jose Mercury News, the Washington Post and several other international news organizations and publications. Her sources are all cited on the cards.
The pictures are all courtesy of the U.S. Department of Defense Web site.
She said her cards reflect the teachings of Catholicism, that "no war is justified."
Former Santa Cruz County Supervisor and outspoken conservative Marilyn Liddicoat is not amused.
"This is very unpatriotic," Liddicoat said. "I think it is very hostile to America to do this."
Liddicoat, also a former chair on the Santa Cruz County Board of Education, said she thinks Eder should be fired for brainwashing students.
"When I served on the board 20 years ago I could see how kids were being brainwashed by very liberal teachers," Liddicoat said.
Eder’s cards and opinions, she said, have the potential to inspire acts of terrorism.
But Eder — who borrowed $8,000 from her credit card for 3,000 decks of cards — said she was simply called upon by God to tell "the truth," as she sees it.
Eder, who said she doesn’t fear losing her job, said her students don’t know about the cards because school has let out for the summer.
She is marketing the cards on her Web site, www.operationhiddenagenda.com, and they are on sale at Bookshop Santa Cruz.
Half of the proceeds from the cards, which sell for $9.95 per deck, will support veterans suffering from Desert Storm Syndrome, a medical condition suffered by Gulf War veterans characterized by headache, fatigue, fever, bleeding gums and skin rashes.
"I keep hearing that we should be supporting the troops," Eder said. "For me, this support also includes the troops who fought in Desert Storm."
Contact Robyn Moormeister at rmoormeister@santa-cruz.com
Yeah, she was a pathetic specimen. Michael said it best we had indicated he was afraid of people like her, as teachers. Oh how true that is.
I spend some time in a VERY liberal newgroup on the net and all of the most radical members are....TEACHERS!!! Go figure.
She came of like a real moron though in her interview with Medved.
She is free to do it at home, but when she is doing it on paid time she can get fired.
Seems the kid's get it..
"This war was totally wrong and totally about greed," she said. "We were told lies the whole time."
According to who??? This out of the intelligence loop civics teacher
The cards are a lesson in truth, she said.
Her version of the world...... from her corner of the school playground.
Incidentally, her comments on Just War were completely wrong. She's certainly not a spokesman for the Catholic Church.
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